Carriage body for automobiles



NOV. 2l, 1933. v w REUTTER 1,935.993

CARRIAGE BODY FOR AUTOMOBILES Filed Dec. 1Q, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 v flywhe Nov. 21, 1933. w. REu'rrER VCARRIAGE BODY FOR AUTOMOBILES 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Dc. 1o. 15950 NOV. 21, 1933. w. REUTTE'R 1,935,993

CARRIAGE BODY FOR AUTOMOBILES l Filed Dec. l0, 1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 ven for.'

I en

Patented Nov. 2l, i933 1,935,993 y Y l OARRAGE BODY FOR AUTOMOBILES Wilhelm Reutter, Stuttgart, Germany Application December in, 1939, serial No.V

. 501,359, and in Germany February 18, V41929 s claims. (01.296-10-7.)

This invention relates to carriage bodies. for 'automobiles and has particularly for its object Yto provide va carriage body permitting to enlarge 'during travel vtheyinterior limited space or" a closed carriage such'aaior instance, the carriage oi; limousines Vlandaulets and the like, by raising "the "top -in warm'weather to permit convenient ventilation oi the Ainterior oi the car in the 'upper space oi the carriage body and to again lower said top inrcool weather.,

Y Ventilationidevicesare 'known to Ybe used inconnection with carriage bodies having a fixed top. 'Devices-of this kind, however, are not sufficient to bring about proper ventilation. Such devices, moreover, are v`in general bodies separate from the 'top oi .the carriage body.

d*Ac'cording'to 'my invention the top oi the carriage body :.isconstructed -to be raised .as .a. whole y 'lby :means or" 'a lifting device mounted on the :lateral walls of lthe carriage body permitting an ample quantity oi air toenter the upper space vofV the car and again discharge from said space.

in 'contra-distinction to this construction oi carriage bodies in which the top` may be taken.

textures having reinforcements of wire or 'io-v raminated sheet-metal and the like is vprovided vintermediate theraised 'top andthe 'upper edges "ofthe 'carriagebodyiV In this manner said intermediate Aioraminated or air-pervious member `will `automa-tically'lill-upthe interstice between thevupperrwalls oi" the carriage body and the top Iin raised:conditionofthe latter.

` -Th'is interme'diatefmember serves in particular f to'reduce vthe air-draught and' to ,prevent dust, soil, oreignfbo'dies, insects and the like against entering the interior of vthe car. Thesaid intermediate. member, Vmoreover7 is with its upperedge `on the liitable'top and with its under Sledge .to the'upper rim or" ythe walls of tiie carriage Abodyandin faddition is connected with tlieftop iain'ietheupper rim of the Walls oi the lcarriage "body `to permit automatic folding, when lowerf fingfthe'atop. :.fAs an'alternative ,ofgtiiis construc- 4riage bodies. f a carriage'body `provided according tomvy `inven- Vengaging with a worm-gear i'mounted on the tion,saidintermediate member may also consist, instead of aso'ftplia'ble material, permitting folding, oi a rigid material and in this case a groove is` provided roundtheunder .edge Vo f the top and round the upper rim of the walls Vot the carriage body, said grooves permitting reception of vsaid rigid intermediate member `in lowered condition `ofthe top. y v l' j My present invention maybe advantageously used in vconnection Ywith automobiles of various types, such as ,for"instance, limousines, landau. lets andsoo'rth and'in cOnnect-ionwith various forms'oi construction of severalforms of car- An example of `a .construction of tion with la topwhi'chjrnay'be raised and lowered is shown in the accompanyingdrawingsof Which Fig. l is a partial lateral view of an automobile :having a carriage' body of the ordinary type with .a relatively ,lOW top in `lowered. condition, Fig. "2 ,y

asimilar lateral View'of the carriage 'bodyfwith the top inraised condition, Fig. `3 a rear view "taken on Fig. 2 and Fig. 4Lan enlarged, partial `brokenaway cross-section through a specialv iform of construction 'of the top .and the upper v80 rims .of 'the walls of thecarriage bodyfas Well as of the said 'intermediate member between said top and the upper rim ofthe 'carriage 'body,;Fi g.

f5 a' similar venlarged ,partial vertical section through the upper leithandvpart of "Fig. '3 show ing 'in particular the mechanism by 'means `of whichtheftopof 'the carriage body 'may be raised Aand lowered and Fig. '6 a'detail showing -partof 'cially constructed lifting and lowering devices,

such as for instance liitingspindles c, areinter- 100 spindles Yc varezprovided alongside therupperrim 105 `lof the 'Walls of Jthe ,carriage-"body, said lifting spindles'c being mounted at their undergends within arecess inthe -walls Aofi-the carriage-body.

Each of the lifting spindles c'carries a worm h n iro operating spindle 2. The operating spindles 2 may be rotated by means of a pair of bevel gears (not shown) and transverse shafts 5 and 5 carrying said bevel gears, said transverse shafts being mounted at the front of the carriage-body. In order to operate the shafts 5 and 5 there may be used a handle 6 and a bevel-gear drive shown in Fig. 6. IThe shaft on which the crank 6 is mounted carries a gear '7 which engages ordinarily by action of pressure springs 8 with the bevel gears 9 and 9 which are mounted longitudinally displaceably on the shafts 5 and5',

respectively. v

Ir" it is desired to raise the top a only at one of its sides, either the bevel gear 9 or 9 must be caused to engage with the bevel gear 7. For this purpose operating levers 10 and 10 are provided within the casing for the bevel gears 7, 9 and 9', said operating levers being mounted to permit swinging motion thereof. In order to maintain the mechanism in disengaged condition of the bevel gears a locking device (not shown) serves for retaining the operating levers 10 and 10 in position to keep` said mechanism in this condition.

If the top a is lifted from the position shown in Fig. l into the position shown in Fig. 2, apparently the height of the interior space of the car will be essentially increased, and in addition to this, an efcient ventilation will be provided by the gap or interstice between the lifted top a and the upper rims of the walls of the carriage body. The thus gained increase of the ,height and volume of the interior space of the car according to my invention is separated from the outside by means of the aforementioned intermediate member d which consists of a material which is pervious'to air, for instance a wire 'netting or the like, which is pliable to permit automatic folding, when lowering the top b and in like manner expand automatically when raising said top. Also the said intermediate member d may be arranged to enter into grooves provided on the upper rim of the carriage body and the under edges of the top aY in lowered condition of the latter. An intermediate member d in the form of a wire netting or some other structure which is pervious to air will prevent soil',` dust, foreign bodies or the like againstentering the interior of the car and in addition provide agreeable ventilation by' more or less suppressing the air-draught which may enter the car in raised position of the top a.

The lifting mechanism for the top a may also be constructed to permit said top to be lifted only at one of its sides, while the other side may be kept closed for the purpose of preventing heavy lateral winds against entering the interior of the car. In like manner the top a may be lifted only at the rear or only at the front, or the top a may be lifted at any part thereof and the otherl part of said top retained in lowered position. Apparently the top a of the carriage body may be raised by means of a proper lifting device to any desired height which may be chosen entirely as desired on the part of the passengers.

The gap or interstice between the top a when in raised condition the walls of the carriagebody may be placed at any desired height above thewindows of the car, irrespective of the fact whether the top is raised uniformly or onlyon one side or on the rear or iront. Most preferably, said gap or interstice may be of the conformation as shown in Fig. 4 in which the upper rims cf the walls b of the carriage body are provided with a projecting portion f which registers with a recess fr of similar conformation at the under edges of the tcp a. This form of gap between the carriage-body and the top will have the advantage that there will be no interstice between the outer contacting edges of the top and the ca iage body in lowered position of the top, which will eifectively prevent rain against entering the car in lowered condition of the top.

Fig. 4 shows the aforementioned conformation of the upper rim of the walls of the carriage body and of the under edges of the top a as well as the intermediate member d which may consist of a wire netting, a texture or fabric or other structure pervious to air and a groove e provided around the under edge of the top a permitting reception of said intermediate member d in lowered condition of the top U.. In Fig. 4 a rigid material is chosen for the intermediate member d, said member being fixed to the upper rim of the walls of the carriage-body. In lowered condition of the top a the gap or nterstice between the latter and the upper rims of the carriagebody will fully disappear so that the carriagebody together with the top presents the appearance of an ordinary carriage-body with xed top. In lowered condition of the top a, the member d will be fully concealed from view and positioned within the groove e provided along the edges of the top a. In order to provide additional safety against entrance of rain through the closed gap or joint between the top a and the carriage-body,

also a greater number of alternate projections f' and depressions f1 may' be provided along the upper rim of the carriage body andthe under edge of the top a. Furthermore, ledges g as indicated in Fig. 2, may be fastened round the edges of the top a, said ledges serving to improve the appearance of the gap or joint between the carriage body and the top in lowered condition of the latter. In addition to this, said ledges g will provide additional protection against entrance of rain in lowered condition of the top d. The construction of the intermediate member d of rigid material, as shown in Fig. 4 will have the advantage that it will also present a smooth appearance, in case the top a is only slightly lifted. Also, an intermediatev member dof the form shown in Fig. 4 will be subject to wear to aconsiderably smaller degree, in contra-distinction `to the aforementioned pliable or flexible intermediate member d which during lifting and lowering of the top a will be expanded and folded together, respectively.

I claim: y

1. In a carriage body for automobiles and the like having sides and a top separate fromY said sides, means for raising and lowering said top with respect to said sides, and a rigid intermediate member pervious to air and interposed between said top and said sides, said-intermediate member being fixed to the sides and slidably engaging the top and automatically maintaining constant engagement with the top in all adjusted positions of the latter.

2. In a carriage body for automobiles and the like having sides and a top separate from said sides, means for raising and lowering said top with respect to said sides, and a rigid intermediate member pervious to aii` and interposed between said top and said sides, said intermediate member being fixed to-the sides and slidablyenmember being xed to the" s'i'd'es and slidably engaging the top and automatically maintaining constant engagement with the top in all adjusted positions of the latter, and interengaging offset portions on thecontacting faces of the sides and top disposed beside the intermediate member to provide a water-tight jointvbetween thecarriage sides and the top when this latter is in lowered position.

WILHELM REUTTER. 

